Independent UK: Shell on trial (the murder of Ken Saro-Wiwa)

[marmar]

Shell on trial
Oil giant in the dock over 1995 murder of activist who opposed environmental degradation of Niger Delta

Tuesday, 26 May 2009


Royal Dutch Shell will revisit one of the darkest periods of its history tomorrow as a potentially groundbreaking court case opens in New York.

The oil giant stands accused of complicity in the 1995 execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa, a Nigerian environmental activist.

The world's boardrooms are watching the case, which is seen as a test of whether transnational companies owned or operating in the US can be held responsible for human rights abuses committed abroad.

A collection of cases brought by torture victims in the oil-rich Niger Delta and by relatives of those killed has been brought together under the umbrella of Wiwa v Shell.

The plaintiffs include Ken Saro-Wiwa's son, Ken Wiwa Jnr, and his brother, Owens Wiwa. .......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/shell-on-trial-1690616.html

[Hardrada]

1. About time!

[JohnyCanuck]

2. Get more background info and follow news about the trial here:

http://wiwavshell.org/

[struggle4progress]

3. Old law exhumed by fighters for human rights (FT)

By Michael Peel

Published: May 25 2009 22:57 | Last updated: May 25 2009 22:57

Larry Bowoto v ChevronAs Ken Saro-Wiwa stood before the hangman’s noose in Port Harcourt, Nigeria’s oil capital, he spoke not just of his imminent death but also of the campaign against Royal Dutch Shell that had won him international attention. Sentenced to death after a deeply flawed trial, he had come to be seen as a martyr by those opposing alleged abuses involving the oil industry in his country. According to fellow activists, his last words before his execution were: “Lord, take my soul but the struggle continues.”

More than 13 years later, that battle has crossed the Atlantic and become an emblem of international efforts to pursue multinationals over their alleged involvement in human rights violations and other wrongdoing in faraway places.

On Tuesday, a court in New York will start hearing a lawsuit alleging Shell was complicit in Mr Saro-Wiwa’s death and a campaign of terror by Nigerian security forces. The claim – which the company says is false and is defending – is one of a series of similar cases launched against big businesses from round the world in industries ranging from carmaking to mining.

The potential of these lawsuits to generate huge damages and disastrous publicity now hovers, according to one lawyer whose firm defends big companies, “very close to the consciousness of corporate America acting overseas” ...

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/3d93c1a0-493f-11de-9e19-00144feabdc0,dwp_uuid=02e16f4a-46f9-11da-b8e5-00000e2511c8.html

[Wednesdays]

4. K&R

:kick: